


A Real, Genuine Prompto-Smile

by MeganRosenberg



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Highschool Prompto, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Sexual Assault, Threats, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, highschool noctis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 06:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26967157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: Shortly after becoming friends, Prompto and Noctis are assaulted by bullies while walking home from the arcade. The terrifying encounter eventually leads to Noctis ending up at Prompto's house looking at a wall of his new friend's photos and thinking to himself just how worthy of protection and genuine love Prompto is.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Listen here. I wrote this tiny little two-chapter story with teen-Prompto getting into a terrible, traumatizing situation and I loved it so much I decided to write a super long one with Ardyn and Verstael in it too! Stay tuned, because that one's gonna be a bumpy ride... Very traumatic. Simply awful. You'll love it. 
> 
> It's almost done. I'm working on the extremely skeleton - no-editing-yet version and finishing up the last chapter... It's 35,000 words so far without all the extras added in and without the last chapter written... Then I'll go back through, add more juice, really plump it up and make it fuckin' beautiful. I also have another mini-story - like three or four chapters I'll post while finishing up the other one... You'll know the long one when I start posting it because Verstael is listed as a character. He hadn't been in my others. God damn it, you're gonna love it. Please stay tuned.

xxxxxx

Chapter 1

xxxxxx

"I'm gonna beat that high score this summer." Noctis noted as he and Prompto walked down the sidewalk away from the arcade.

"You came really close!" Prompto noted with a wide grin. Noct's video-gaming skills were pretty amazing. Half the fun of going to the arcade at this point was watching his friend play the games rather than playing any himself, which was good since they cost money to play and Prompto didn't want to let on that he barely had any and accidentally guilt trip Noct into paying for him.

"Not close enough." Noctis shrugged with a slight frown. "Just a higher second place than the second place I already had."

"Well, I was impressed anyway." Prompto laughed, pushing playfully against Noct's arm. "I'll bet the high score was made by someone who cheated somehow. What I just witnessed from you was amazing! Like verging on impossible. I can't see how you could'a possibly done better than that."

"Yeah, but I messed up at the end." Noctis remembered. "It gets harder the longer you play. My fingers were sweaty and I was losing focus. Wish I could take a break halfway through without it resetting."

"Well, that's part of the game." Prompto noted. "You gotta do it all in one go. Being able to pause it and come back after taking a break would almost be cheating. You're getting better though. You beat your own high score at least, and that's a start. You'll get it next time."

Noctis frowned as he looked up and down the street before starting to cross. "You sure you don't want me to call a car to take you home?" He wondered. "I'm gonna call one to take me back as soon as we get there anyway. It's no problem."

Prompto shook his head. "I kind of like walking. You miss a lot when you take a car everywhere."

"Yeah? Like what?" Noctis laughed, looking around the ground around them. "Litter in the gutters? Puddles of mysterious liquid in the streets? There's not much to see out here."

Prompto shrugged one shoulder. "The lights that come on at night, the stars in places where there aren't as many lights, the sound of cars driving by in the distance… The smells and music of all the different restaurants. Hearing other people out and about laughing, having a good time… It's pretty quiet when you get out this way, but if you listen closely, you can hear people a couple streets over. There's something really calming about hearing the commotion of other people's fun."

Noctis glanced over toward Prompto with a small smile. "You really see the best in everything, don't you?" He noted.

"Maybe…" Prompto laughed, shrugging his shoulders and looking away. He got kind of nervous whenever anyone looked at him too long and hard, how Noctis was now, staring into his eyes like he was reading the younger boy's secrets.

"I never would have thought about that, Prom." Noctis noted, pausing for a moment and looking up and off to the side as though trying to listen to the distant sounds. "Hearing other people's fun being calming… I never saw it that way... but I guess you're right. It is kind of nice to hear laughter, distant music…"

"You two on a date?" A rough, mocking voice shouted from somewhere behind them.

Prompto inhaled a small breath and turned around, swallowing nervously when he saw an uncomfortably familiar young man standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at them with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Maybe you should'a called that car after all, Noct…" Prompto whispered, leaning toward Noctis, but keeping his eyes on the other young man. He was trying to make light of the situation, as he often did when he was uncomfortable, trying to make a joke even though he was legitimately worried.

The guy who'd just yelled at them was named Clinton, one of a few bullies who Prompto hadn't ever had a problem with until he started hanging out with Noctis. They were Noct's tormentors, and Prompto had accidentally gotten dragged into the situation by being around the prince so much.

Clinton was a few years older than Prompto and Noctis, and for some reason he had a big problem with the prince. It seemed odd that there were bullies confident and fearless enough to harass an actual prince, but Noctis didn't seem to want to get anyone involved. He didn't go to teachers or his dad or anyone else for help. He was determined to settle it on his own, to not use his position of importance to get off easy.

Prompto respected that, even though he wished his own family was royal and important and involved in his life so he would have people he could go to to solve it himself. He understood that Noct wanted to not look weak by getting someone else to fight his battles for him, but the way Prompto saw it, these bullies were older and a lot bigger than them. It already wasn't a fair fight, so a cheap, unfair solution seemed fitting.

The scariest part about this particular moment though, was the fact that Clinton almost always had a second bully, Donnel right next to him. They worked as a team. Ever since Prompto started hanging around Noctis, it was often that one of them would assign himself to Noct, the other to Prompto… and then they'd make fun of them, push them around, otherwise harass them… It was easy to get cornered when there were two of them. Prompto didn't see Donnel now… but the other young man was very likely nearby.

"Come on, Prompto." Noctis glared, grabbing Prompto's wrist and pulling him along as he turned and walked the other way.

Prompto frowned, but allowed Noctis to drag him along. He doubted this was going to be as simple as just walking away, but he supposed they could try it.

"Hey! I was talking to you!" Clinton growled.

Prompto grimaced and shrunk down slightly when he heard the sound of Clint's footfalls increasing in speed behind them.

"Noct? Should we run?" He breathed, glancing over his shoulder as he picked up the pace and grabbed his friend's sleeve.

Noctis didn't often actually run away from bullies. Walking away was different - it felt more powerful than running. Walking away implied you were too good to engage, too mature, above the whole thing. Running away implied you were scared, weak, cowardly… Prompto didn't mind looking cowardly though if it saved him from getting punched, or worse.

The prince didn't have time to decide on an answer. Just about as soon as Prompto asked, as soon as he had turned around to keep an eye on Clint's progress toward them, he felt hard hands grabbing his arms from the other direction.

Shrieking a startled scream as he turned around toward what he knew was going to be the other bully, Donnel, Prompto immediately froze. In his experience, once the bullies caught you, it was better to just get quiet and still than to thrash around and yell or try to make jokes. That would just make them mad.

Meanwhile, next to him, Noctis was a lot more outwardly angry, which was probably just going to make the bullies enjoy this all the more. The prince let out an angry growl and tugged back on his arms once Clint had caught up with him and grabbed him, pulling him away from Prompto, who was securely in Don's grasp.

"Let's take 'em back into the alley there." Clint suggested.

"Wh-" Prompto felt his eyes widen. "What? Why?" He breathed, starting to wonder if thrashing around and fighting back might actually be a good idea this time. The street was already deserted. There already weren't any witnesses… How bad was this gonna be that the bullies were taking them even further away from any potential help? What were they going to do that they wanted so badly for no one to see or hear it?

"You two are just adorable." Don whispered, his words breathy and low in Prompto's ear as he pulled the younger boy backward, so that Prompto's back was pressed against Don's chest. The older boy wrapped one arm around Prompto's shoulders, across his upper chest, holding him tight.

Although Prompto was understandably uncomfortable, anxious even, he really wasn't sure what to do from here, what to say, whether to try fighting back. So for the moment, he went along with the older boy's movements, and didn't call out for help. So far, this was harmless. Creepy, but harmless...

"What do you want?" Noctis growled, glaring toward Donnel as Clinton held tightly onto the prince's upper arms, pulling him along into the alley behind Donnel and Prompto.

"Just having a little fun is all." Don laughed, reaching a hand up and running it down the side of Prompto's face. "Would that be alright with you? If we join you guys on your little date? Not fair to exclude people, you know."

Prompto swallowed nervously, staring with wide eyes toward Noctis. This was getting very creepy very fast.

"If you've got a problem with me, let him go and you and I can deal with it." Noctis stared.

Prompto noticed Clint smirk from behind Noctis, as though that one little sentence had told him something big, something important.

"Prince Charming over there never used to hang out with anyone." Don noted, still holding Prompto securely against his body with one arm stretched across the younger boy's chest, while running his other hand slowly up and down Prompto's upper arm. "You know that? Girls always tried to flirt with him and he acted like none of it meant shit to him. He could have any girl in school… Any friends too… Everyone was interested in him. He's a fucking prince. But he just stuck to being by himself. No one was good enough for him. He was always alone… Now you're always with him."

"Huh… Really?" Prompto breathed, staring nervously down at the fingers running softly up and down his sleeve.

"Yeah, really. You must be doing something right, something really special to get him to wanna be around you so much." Don noted. "What do you guys do all the time? Would you do anything he asked? Like... literally anything? What does he ask you to do? What would you be willing to do for your prince?"

Prompto felt his lower lip quiver as he tried to shrink down. He really didn't like this.

"Leave him alone, Donnel!" Noct growled, tugging at his own arms, but unable to escape Clint's grip.

"Hm?" Don asked again, ignoring the prince's interjection. "You're like his little puppy, aren't you? You'd do anything for him. Man... I wish I could see what you two get up to behind closed doors. I'll bet it's really nasty. You ever had the prince's dick in your mouth? Bet you have. Bet you do it all the time."

Prompto exhaled a shaky breath, staring out toward the dark, empty street, hoping someone would happen to walk by and save them. He really didn't like the direction this line of questioning had gone.

"Why you being so quiet all of a sudden, kid?" Don laughed. "You normally talk so god damned much your royal buddy over there can't get a fucking word in. Don't think we aren't paying attention. We watch and listen to you guys more than you know. That's how I know you probably let the prince fuck you any way he wants - because you'd fuckin' die for him. You seriously seem to worship him. That's not healthy, kid. You know that?"

Prompto shook his head. "I don't worship him... W-we're friends..." He whispered. "Why don't you just leave us alone? We didn't do anything to you..."

"I don't think so, kid. We've watched from a distance long enough." Donnel noted. "I see how you two interact in public... Now I wanna know what you do when you're alone. I really, really wanna know... I don't want to just quietly watch from afar anymore and guess what goes on between you two where we can't see it."

"What?" Prompto breathed, furrowing his brows as he tried to turn his head to look up and back toward the bully. "You don't really watch us all the time... Do you? Why the hell would you just watch us?"

"You've got an interesting relationship." Don noted with a soft laugh and a slight smirk. "Noctis is so fucking standoffish… and you came along and seem to worship the ground he walks on… He lets you get close… He doesn't let a lot of people close, but he lets you close. You seem so fucking in love with him, and maybe he feels the same way about you for some damn reason…"

Prompto swallowed. "It's not…" He breathed, his voice small and shaky. "We're not like… in love. We're friends. And we've only known each other for a little while... so we're definitely not in love..."

"Yeah." Clinton scoffed from across the way. "There's no way you two aren't fucking."

Noctis let out a low growl and pulled on his arms again. "You better let us go. Now." He demanded.

Clinton just laughed as Donnel pulled Prompto closer against his chest, still running his hand uncomfortably up and down the younger boy's arm.

"You two are just so damn cute." Don breathed. "So many girls would kill to be around the motherfucking prince… Probably would kill to be with you too." He whispered in Prompto's ear. "You're not royal. You're kind of annoying… but you aren't bad-looking. Girls would wanna be with you, I'll bet… But you choose to be with each other instead."

"Just let us go, man…" Prompto breathed. "We don't want any trouble… We were just walking home…"

"Home? Since when does Noctis live down here?" Clint interrupted from further down the alley. "You guys were goin' to your house huh? For a sleep over? To have a little play time?"

Prompto felt his shoulders slump as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"We can have some play time right out here…" Don noted, taking a step further away from Noctis and Clint, dragging Prompto along with him. "You two can't keep excluding us. That's just mean. We like playing too. I think the prince could stand to learn to share his shiny new toys. He can't just keep you all to himself forever. That's not fair. How about it?"

"What?" Prompto exhaled, his voice shaking slightly. He thought he knew what Don was implying, but he hoped he was wrong.

"Gonna see what all the fuss is about." Don noted, suddenly pushing Prompto pretty hard, face-first against the brick wall lining the alley.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and let out a pained grunt as he caught himself with his hands. He heard Noctis yelling from somewhere behind him, but the prince's screams quickly turned into muffled noises. Probably Clinton had put his hand over Noct's mouth.

But Prompto's voice hadn't been stifled, and now seemed as good a time as any to use it. "Get off of me!" He whimpered, reaching down with shaking hands as he felt Don's fingers sliding under the waistband of his pants. "Don't! Please!" He choked, his breaths quickly increasing and his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Was this guy seriously going to do this? Just right here? So suddenly, out in the open and everything?

Donnel simply laughed, pushing harder against Prompto's back with one arm while tugging at his pants with his other hand.

"Stop!" Prompto screamed, squirming under the man's grip and pushing against the wall with his hands, finally throwing his head back hard enough to hit Don's nose.

"You little-" Don growled, grabbing Prompto back away from the wall and spinning him around, immediately punching the boy across the face before Prompto could even begin to plan where to go from here.

With a shaky, pained whimper, Prompto stumbled back, landing on the ground and starting to crawl away. He glanced toward Noctis, who was fighting pretty hard back against Clint, but hadn't made any progress in freeing himself. The bully still held one hand hard over the prince's face and had his other arm wrapped tightly around Noct's body, holding him back as Noct thrashed and kicked.

"No!" Prompto cried as Don came after him, climbing down to the ground, pushing Prompto down hard, straddling him and grabbing his forearms, pinning them painfully against the ground. "Please let us go! We didn't do anything to you! Why are you doing this!?"

Don simply laughed, shaking his head as he stared down at Prompto, squeezing his hands around Prompto's wrists and practically sitting on his thighs to further hold him down.

"Get off of me! Let us go!" Prompto screamed, pulling at his arms and trying to thrash his body under the older boy's weight.

"Stop fighting me." Donnel growled, squeezing his hands even tighter around Prompto's arms and leaning heavily on his legs. "And stop screaming, or I'll fucking hurt you."

Ordinarily, Prompto probably would have chosen to go along with whatever the bullies seemed to want, to avoid being hurt worse... but this time seemed different. They hadn't ever started pulling his pants down before. They hadn't ever even so much as implied they'd do anything sexual.

"Please!" Prompto begged, trying to twist his body as he tugged at his arms. Maybe getting out of this on their own wasn't realistic this time. Noctis clearly was pretty trapped as well, being held back by the other bully. Both Clint and Don were quite tall, muscular, strong and clearly willing to use that strength. "Help me! Somebody help us! Please!" Prompto shouted. "Get off of me! Help! Help me! Help us, someone please!"

"Shhh… Shut up." The bully demanded, pressing his hand over Prompto's lips. "Shut the fuck up!"

Prompto let out a muffled whimper as tears started to sting at his eyes. He reached his hands up toward Don's arm, but quickly found the older boy's other hand reaching down toward his pants again, grabbing at his belt and unclasping it.

Trying to shake his head as he screamed a muffled, shaking noise, Prompto reached down instead. Sobbing painful, terrified gasps as the bully pulled the belt through the belt loops on Prompto's pants, sliding it completely free.

"Hold still, you little brat." Don growled, his breaths quick and angry. He grabbed at Prompto's arms next, wrapping the belt around his wrists and pulling it tight, effectively tethering his arms together.

"Please! Please stop!" Prompto sobbed as Donnel roughly turned him over onto his stomach, placing one hand hard against the back of Prompto's head, pressing his cheek painfully against the ground as his other hand reached down toward Prompto's pants again, grabbing the waist band and tugging them down.

"No!" Prompto screamed. "Help me! Somebody, please! Please don't do this!"

"Stop! Get off of him!" Noct's voice shouted. He must have managed to shake away Clint's hand over his mouth, at the very least for a moment.

Prompto groaned in pain as Don's rough hands continued their assault, pressing his cheek against the hard, cold, stony ground, tugging his pants down his thighs, reaching for his boxer shorts next.

"Please don't! Please!" Prompto sobbed. He couldn't believe this was happening. These older boys had escalated so far, so fast, and seemingly with no real reason. Why were they so mad all of a sudden? Prompto and Noctis hadn't said or done anything to them. What the hell was this in response to?

"Don't you fucking touch him!" Noctis screamed. Prompto could hear the prince still struggling, but had squeezed his eyes shut to try to take himself out of the moment. He was also facing the other way, with his head held down. He couldn't see Noct even if he opened his eyes.

"Shut him up." Don growled toward his friend as he yanked Prompto's shorts down his thighs, pinning the boy's legs firmly against the ground with his knees. Prompto screamed a shaky, panicked noise, not even sure what words to use at this point. He was scared, in pain, completely trapped.

Noct's muffled, angry, frantic cries still echoed in his ears as Prompto squeezed his eyes shut tighter, pulled at his trapped wrists while pressing his hands against the ground to try to push himself up. Don's body held his down so firmly, so painfully.

Prompto could only cry loud, breathless, shaky sobs. He felt so weak, so useless. Noct was trying to scream, to beg… and his voice was stifled by Clinton's hand. Meanwhile Prompto could have actually screamed for help still. His mouth wasn't covered… But he couldn't get his voice to work anymore. Not in a way that would be productive. He couldn't find the words. He could only sob, make pained groaning noises, and breathe frantic, desperate breaths.

"Get off!" Noct screamed again, apparently shaking his head free of Clint's hand once again. "Let him go! Right now!"

Donnel's cocky laughter above him rang out in Prompto's ears as he felt the man run his hand slowly up the younger boy's thigh, over his butt. He felt hard, strong fingers grab around his hip, squeezing painfully, definitely creating numerous bruises in the process.

Prompto still could only manage wordless, shaky sobs and whimpers. He felt so worthless to himself, to Noct. He couldn't even beg anymore. He was just making noises, like a scared child or a trapped animal. He gritted his teeth together and squeezed his eyes shut tight as tears rolled freely down his cheeks. He couldn't even really move his arms down to try to push the guy away. With his hands tied, all he could do was push up against the ground, and since Don was so strongly pinning him down, the gesture was all but worthless.

"I'll tell my dad this time… I'll fucking tell…" Noct breathed, his voice sounding absolutely terrified, completely breathless, shaking. This was clearly his last resort.

"No you won't." Don growled, pushing his hand harder against the back of Prompto's head, pressing the other against the boy's lower back, sliding it slightly up under his shirt.

Prompto whimpered a soft, breathless groan. He felt like he was going to pass out, and he wasn't sure if it was because Don had pushed him so hard against the ground and hurt him, or because he was just that scared.

"I will. If you don't fucking let us go, I'll tell him. He's the fucking king, you god damned idiot. You'll be in so much trouble…" Noctis breathed, seemingly regaining a bit of composure and confidence as he spoke. His voice was less and less shaky with each additional word. Maybe he honestly thought these threats would work. Prompto hoped they would.

"He won't tell…" Don guessed, but sounded unsure as he slid his hand further up under Prompto's shirt.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut tighter and let out a shaky whimper. He felt so exposed, so scared, in so much pain.

"You better not, you little rat… We'll hurt you both much worse than this." Clint threatened.

"No you won't. You'll be in fucking jail. I'm the crown prince. So many people are going to take this so seriously. You'll never see the light of day again if you don't stop right now." Noct threatened.

"He won't tell… I won't hurt your little boyfriend too bad this time, but the second I hear you've told daddy, I'll find him again… Hurt him real bad. Maybe even kill him." Donnel threatened, gripping his hands harder, leaning even more heavily against Prompto's legs. "You think this is gonna hurt… you just wait." He growled as he leaned down closer toward Prompto's ear.

Prompto whimpered softly, still keeping his eyes closed. He felt disoriented, dizzy, out of breath. His heart felt like it was pounding so hard it was about to explode.

"You stupid fucking moron… This is serious crime, and you're messing with one of the most powerful people in the city." Noctis growled, his voice dripping with more anger than Prompto had ever heard from his friend. "Doing anything to him is just the same as doing it to me, because I won't fucking let it go. I'll personally see to it that you rot in jail. Let us go right fucking now, and I won't say a word. If you do a god damn thing to him, it's all over for you."

"What do you think, Clint? Should I risk it…?" Don sounded nervous, but still had his hand pushed up under Prompto's shirt, holding him down against his back, with his knees painfully pressed against the younger boy's bare thighs and his other hand pushing hard against the back of his head.

"Let me go…" Prompto finally managed to whimper, choking out a series of pained, breathless sobs as he tried to curl in on himself, but still couldn't budge even an inch. Don was so heavy. He was putting so much weight on Prompto's body, crushing down his thighs, back, and head. It was more than terrifying. It was actually painful. Very painful. "Please… You're hurting me..." He whispered, tears streaming silently down his cheeks.

"I don't give a fuck if I'm hurting you." Don growled, putting more weight on his knees and hands, pushing Prompto down harder against the ground.

Prompto let out a pained groan sort of mixed with a shaking sob. He could feel his hip bones and ribs pressing painfully hard against the ground, sharp stones digging into the fronts of his thighs and his cheek.

"Donnel, stop!" Noctis screamed. "Let him go! Now! This isn't going to end well for you if you don't let him go!"

"Please!" Prompto sobbed, whimpering under the larger man's weight. He was in a lot of pain, and was so scared. What if these older boys didn't let them go? They could always threaten them with more - tell Noctis they were just going to do what they wanted, and if he told his dad, they'd come back and actually kill them. It could always be made worse.

"Get off of him! Now!" Noctis breathed. "I'm not bluffing. My dad gets involved? You two are gonna be royally fucked. I'm not gonna let you do this... Let him go, or I'm telling. You're going to be in so much trouble if you hurt him. I'm not kidding."

"That's so fucking cheap, Noctis." Clinton growled. "You can't fight your own damn battles so you're gonna have daddy do it for you?"

"Yeah. I am." Noctis growled back. "Fuck you if you don't like it. You pick on people smaller than you who haven't done shit to deserve it. That's cheap too. This isn't a battle. This isn't all of us deciding to fight to see who's stronger… This is you guys sneaking up on people, pinning down younger, smaller kids and hurting them for no damn reason. This isn't even me not fighting my own battles. This is you, pissed at me for no good reason, taking it out on him... You don't get to be the only one to break the rules. This fight was never fair. Let us go. Now."

"Just give me ten minutes." Don hissed, sounding somewhat desperate as he slid his hand slightly down Prompto's back, still under his shirt, but toward his butt. "I won't hurt him too bad, and-"

"No!" Noctis screamed, sounding like he was fighting against Clint, but Prompto still couldn't turn his head to see him. "Get the fuck off of him! I'm not kidding! You won't get away with it this time. Not unless you leave, right now!"

Clinton exhaled tiredly. "Let him go then, Don… I guess picking on his boyfriend wasn't the right way to go about this." He laughed. "Now we know he's not a total sociopath though. There is one person he gives a damn about besides himself. He got real damn serious real fast..."

For a moment, Don didn't do as his friend asked. Prompto felt the older boy's hand slide even further down, onto his butt cheek, grabbing and squeezing fairly hard. Prompto squeezed his eyes closed tighter, feeling the tears still rolling down his cheeks as he let out a tiny whimper. This whole thing was so embarrassing, so terrifying.

"Don. Let him go." Clint ordered again. "It's not worth it."

"Seriously?" Don grumbled, sliding his hand back up, squeezing over Prompto's back, still under his shirt, letting his hard fingers curl part way around the younger boy's ribs. "You're seriously gonna let me get this far and then make me quit?" He scoffed.

"I don't want the actual fucking king breathing down my neck. Let him go… But don't you two fucking say a word." Clinton demanded. "If I hear you've told anyone about this, me and Don are both gonna get ahold of your little boyfriend and make him wish he was dead."

"Fine. Just let us go." Noctis breathed, his voice shaking slightly with anger, but definitely a bit of fear too. "Let us fucking go!" He screamed after a moment of receiving no answer from their attackers.

Everything was silent for a moment. Prompto held his breath, still squeezing his eyes shut as tears managed to sneak out and roll down his cheeks. Don's hands were so hard, so painful, squeezing around his ribs, pushing against the back of his head, causing his cheek to scrape painfully against the stone alley below him. The knees crushing the back of his thighs down, pinning them in place were so heavy, so hard. Not to mention the fact that his pants and underwear were still almost down to his knees, exposing him in the worst, most humiliating and terrifying way.

"Please let me go… Please…" Prompto whimpered, still keeping his eyes shut, too scared to let himself see anything going on around him. He just wanted out of this. He wanted to go home, lock himself inside, and never come out again.

Prompto sobbed shakily, breathlessly, as the hands pressing painfully down against him finally let up. The hard knees formerly pinning his legs down eased up too and Don simply walked off after Clint.

Prompto felt a surge of relief once he was no longer being held down, but was still scared, still embarrassed, still shaking. He didn't know what to do from here. He couldn't even bring himself to move to pull his pants back up. He was still frozen in fear, breathless. Honestly, he was in pain too, and wasn't sure if he was hurt. Donnel had held him down so hard, had hit him even harder. He wouldn't be surprised if he had a broken rib or nose or something.

"Oh my god, Prompto…" Noctis breathed as he ran over to his friend's side. "Are you okay?" He immediately grabbed toward Prompto's pants and boxers, pulling them up for him when Prompto still hadn't done so himself.

Prompto shook his head, allowing Noctis to turn him over and pull him up into a sitting position. He felt so useless, so weak. He hadn't been able to do a thing to save himself just now. And Noct had been in trouble too. Prompto didn't even know if his friend may have been injured in all this. He couldn't even see him through most of it. The bullies were so strong, so violent and cruel.

"Prom, are you hurt?" Noctis stared, clearly worried as he untangled Prompto's belt from around his wrists and leaned down to see his friend's face better. "Your nose is bleeding…" He noted, reaching carefully toward Prompto's face.

Prompto looked down, reaching his own fingers up toward his nose and sniffing, then bringing his hand down so he could see the small smudge of blood on his fingertips.

"Hey…" Noctis put his hand under Prompto's chin when the younger boy still hadn't brought himself to answer. "Prompto… Are you alright?" He asked again, tilting his friend's face up to see him better.

"Noct…" Prompto whispered, blinking through his tears, then throwing his arms around his friend's shoulders. "I'm sorry…" He sobbed.

"What?" Noctis whispered, hugging Prompto back. "What the hell do you have to be sorry for?"

Prompto shook his head. "I don't know…" He sobbed. Noctis had been dealing with these guys for a long time. He always managed to figure it out without having to threaten to tell his dad, without having to take that cheap, easy way out. Noctis clearly felt too proud to resort to that. But with Prompto here, everything was different. Noctis had had to give in, make that threat, make the bullies think he was weak. All because Prompto was in the way, complicating things, unable to fight back and save himself. "I'm sorry, Noct… I made everything worse-"

"No… Prompto, no you didn't…" Noctis insisted, hugging his friend tighter. "If anything, I made things worse for you… These guys never bothered you until you started hanging out with me… Prom… I'm so fucking sorry..."

Prompto shook his head, sniffing back tears and squeezing his eyes shut tighter as his hug around Noct's shoulders tightened. "Are you okay, Noct? Did they hurt you?" He whimpered, finally pulling back slightly.

"I'm fine…" Noctis stared, looking genuinely shocked as he stared back at Prompto. "They didn't hurt me, Prom. They hurt you… Are you okay?" He asked once again.

Prompto realized now that he hadn't ever answered his friend. He looked down at himself, at his pants, still pulled down lower than he would have preferred. Unbuttoned, unzipped… His boxer shorts were up where they should be at least. Noct had made sure to at least cover him up with something. His belt was lying on the ground next to him.

"Prompto…" Noctis spoke again, placing his hand back on his friend's cheek. "You alright?"

Prompto looked up, his eyes meeting Noctis's. He swallowed, then nodded. "I think so…" He breathed, his voice tiny.

"You sure? I couldn't see everything he did… I saw enough… but..." Noctis trailed off.

Prompto shook his head. "He didn't-" He cut himself off with a small breath. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. He was okay. Donnel hadn't taken this as far as he wanted to, as he clearly intended to. It hadn't happened, so Prompto didn't really need to put it into words, right? The important thing was that it hadn't happened. That's all that mattered.

"Let's get you home…" Noctis suggested, starting to stand, pulling Prompto carefully up along with him. "Alright? You good to walk? We were almost there. It won't be far."

Prompto sniffed back tears, but nodded, leaning against Noctis, closing his eyes, and letting his friend lead the way.

xxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

xxxxxx

Chapter 2

xxxxxx

Prompto was so painfully silent as Noctis led him toward his house. The ordinarily excited, talkative boy was completely quiet, keeping himself very close to Noctis, almost uncomfortably close, leaning against him, practically insisting that Noctis walk with his arm around him. When Noctis had for a moment pulled back, afraid he was being too suffocatingly protective of his friend, Prompto had been quick to grab his arm and pull him back, refusing to let him back off.

"Are your parents usually home by now?" Noctis frowned as he noticed all the lights in Prompto's house were turned off. He had sort of expected that Prompto's parents would be there, that the boy might want to tell them what happened, or make up some excuse as to why his nose was bleeding… or at the very least, that once Noctis left Prompto to return to his own house, he wouldn't be leaving his friend all by himself.

Prompto shook his head. "They're hardly ever home." He spoke in a small voice. "I'll be fine if you wanna go. I'll just shower and go to bed anyway. You're probably tired and all that… You don't need to wait for them to get back, because you'll be waiting all night."

"No…" Noctis shook his head, walking with Prompto up to the somewhat small house's front door. "I don't want to go home. I want to stay with you. For a while at least. I'll text my dad and let him know… I can even spend the night if you want."

"Really?" Prompto laughed uncomfortably, pulling a house key out of his pants pocket and unlocking the door. "My house isn't much. I mean, it's not gonna be anything like what you're probably used to…"

"That's okay. I'm not picky about that, and you know I'm not gonna judge." Noctis frowned. Prompto seemed to have a weird complex where he felt inferior and unimportant, like he was constantly afraid of failing to meet Noctis's expectations. Noctis's only real expectation from his friend was that they could have fun together, rely on each other, play video games, get ice cream, joke around... that Prompto would be normal around him, which he usually was... but he did have these little moments where he seemed unsure, where he clearly feared he wasn't good enough to be friends with the prince.

Noctis frowned when Prompto hadn't said anything back. "Prompto, I don't need your house to be anything fancy... I'm friends with you, not your house. I don't care what it looks like. I'm not gonna judge you. You know that... You do know that, right?"

Prompto shrugged one shoulder. "Just… You're an actual prince and probably have the coolest bedroom ever and whatever food and drinks you'd ever want... I've just got normal stuff. My room is small, and I've just got the one little bed and-"

"If you've got running water and a pillow, it'll be enough for me, man. I'm just thirsty and in need of some sleep, and all I need for that is water and a pillow. You know I'm capable of sleeping pretty much anywhere, any time." Noctis forced a small smile, which turned genuine when he noticed Prompto smile back.

"I do have an extra pillow… And running water. You want a drink?" Prompto offered, seeming noticeably happier already.

"Sure. Let's head into the kitchen…" Noctis suggested, letting Prompto lead the way to a dark room with a table and chairs and all the regular kitchen appliances.

"My parents probably won't be home until late, or early morning, I guess. They've got weird work hours and stay out doing whatever all the time after." Prompto noted as he walked across the tiles toward the room's light switch. "I don't really know what they do after work, actually. We don't talk much."

"You don't?" Noctis frowned. He supposed he didn't talk with his dad all that much either. The man was so busy all the time, and always involved in such serious matters he didn't seem to want to burden his son with. Maybe Prompto's parents had high-stress jobs too. Maybe they were busy and dealt with important things they didn't want to worry their son with.

Prompto shrugged one shoulder and flipped on the light, then headed toward the sink and filled up two glasses of water. "Hope you don't mind this kind. We don't have bottled water, but this is filtered and everything…"

"That'll work just fine." Noctis smiled, taking one of the glasses from his friend and gulping down a long drink. He hadn't actually realized how parched he was after struggling with the bullies so ferociously, relentlessly, desperately begging for his friend's safety. Even though it was just water, and tap water at that, it was so refreshing, in the moment better than any other water he'd ever had in his life.

Prompto seemed to feel the same way, draining his entire glass before setting it down on the counter, looking up at the ceiling, closing his eyes and exhaling tiredly.

"Your house isn't bad, Prom. You had me thinking it was gonna be like a dirty little shack with holes in the floors, broken windows, and giant rats running around inside." Noctis laughed as he looked around, placing his glass next to Prompto's on the counter. It actually looked pretty normal, clean, organized. If anything, it was odd how neat it looked, considering Prompto's somewhat chaotic personality.

Prompto forced a small laugh and shrugged. "It's just small and not probably what you're used to at your house is all." He guessed. "We just have basic stuff, nothing special."

"You know I'm not stuck up though, Prompto. I mean, we've gone camping in a tent and I wasn't a snob about it." Noctis noted. "What can we use to clean the blood off from under your nose. One of these okay?" He asked, taking a clean towel off the front of the oven. "Might stain it… but not if we wash it right away. Your parents won't have to know…"

Prompto nodded. "That'll work, I guess." He agreed, grabbing his arm nervously with his other hand and looking down. "Do you think… like… that… That those guys will try something again later?" He asked.

"They better not." Noctis noted, turning on the tap, holding the towel under the sink's faucet, turning the water back off, and then heading back over to his friend. "Why don't you sit down on the table?" He suggested.

"Okay…" Prompto breathed, backing himself up and sitting on the edge, tilting his face up and staring at Noctis like he was honestly genuinely terrified right now. He was shaking very slightly, and leaning a bit back, like he was scared Noctis touching his face with the cloth was going to be painful.

"Oh… Do you want to do it?" Noctis frowned, offering him the towel. "I won't hurt you, Prom. I'll be careful… I'm more than happy to help you out here... but if you're nervous and would rather-"

"No, it's okay…" Prompto whispered. "You can do it… I know you'll be gentle... I'm not worried about that. Just… Clint and Donnel... I'm kind of worried they're not gonna leave us alone. What he almost did to me…" He trailed off, closing his eyes and inhaling a small breath.

Noctis closed his eyes as well and shook his head. "What he almost did was terrible, Prompto… but he's not getting another chance to. I'll personally make sure of it. Maybe I'll just tell my dad everything anyway, even though they did let us go when I threatened to tell. I could tell Gladio too. It's kind of his job to keep me out of trouble. I sort of sneak off so he's not always babysitting me, but he can kind of be our body guard if all else fails."

Prompto forced a small laugh. "He's not gonna want to do that... Especially not for me... I'm not a prince. He doesn't even know me."

"You and I are a package deal." Noctis shrugged. "And Gladio's actually really caring. He seems like a dick sometimes, but if I ask him to keep us safe from those guys, he will. For me and for you. He'll take it seriously. He won't just leave you to them just because you're not a prince. Don and Clint won't dare get near us with Gladio there."

Prompto's eyes widened as he inhaled a small, sharp breath. "But they'll be really mad…"

"Won't matter." Noctis noted as he brought the towel up gently toward the partially dried blood running down from Prompto's nose, over his lips and down his chin. "Maybe they'll get kicked out of Lucis or at least banished from Insomnia or something… My dad's not gonna just let them stick around after all that… And it's not even just what they did tonight. They've been bothering me for like three years."

"Really?" Prompto frowned.

"Yeah. They're always shoving me around, making fun of me… They pushed me down the stairs at school once when no one else was around… I just lied and told my dad I fell on accident. I had a sprained ankle and fractured wrist…" Noctis explained. "It's not all just name-calling and harmless shoves. They've been doing pretty serious stuff for a while. I've put up with a lot over the years… Not wanting to be a tattle tale, wanting to solve it on my own… but this is where I draw the line. I'm not letting them get away with hurting you. What they did tonight was more unacceptable than anything else they've ever done... than all of it put together even. I'm not letting this slide."

Prompto swallowed nervously, forcing a small laugh and looking down. "Well… I'm okay… I don't want you telling just for my sake, if you weren't going to anyway… I mean, I think I'd tell just because I wouldn't want them pushing me down stairs and shit if I were you… but don't let anything about me influence your decision. I didn't mean to screw everything up and complicate things. And I don't want them even more mad at you for turning this into a big deal when it was just me they really did something serious to. They didn't even really do much. It was more what they planned than what they actually did, and I'm not really hurt. I don't wanna be the reason-"

"Prompto, stop… You've done nothing wrong. This didn't happen just because you were there this time. Clint and Don are fucking jerks. Cruel, terrible bullies. They shouldn't have ever gotten away with harassing me like they have, for actual years, and dragging you into it… I'm just putting my foot down now because I can handle people being unfair to me better than I can handle them hurting my friends. They should have never messed with you." Noctis frowned. "It's their own fault. I let them get away with a lot, but they crossed a line. Even the smaller stuff before tonight. I shouldn't have allowed it to continue. The second they made you a part of it too, I should have done something."

"Well... that's not all on you..." Prompto frowned. "I could have told someone too, and I never did... When they started shoving me around and threatening me. I just let them..."

Noctis shook his head. "Your dad's not the king. You don't have like body guards. I could have put a stop to this a long time ago, and I didn't."

He should have put his foot down even sooner. Ever since he and Prompto had become friends, Clint and Don bothered the blonde boy too. They never had before - not that Noctis knew of. But once the two of them had become friends, Clint and Donnel would come up behind them, shove them both really hard, trip them, verbally harass them. They shoved Prompto into fountain once, and the younger boy had hit his head, almost passed out. He had been disoriented for about an hour afterward. If Noctis hadn't been there too, maybe Prompto could have even drowned that day.

Noctis really should have stood up for his friend way before now. Even letting them shove Prompto around and verbally assault him was too much. Noctis just didn't want his dad involved. He always solved this stuff on his own… but then, looking back, with these boys having been bothering him for years now, maybe he hadn't ever actually solved shit. He just enabled it to continue… made sure it was easy for the bullies to get away with doing it over and over again.

The worst part was that Prompto had been bullied by them too now, for several months... Just because he was friends with Noctis... Being in the prince's life drew the bullies to him, and Noct could have told the right people and made it stop... But he was too proud. It all led to tonight. Don held Prompto down, pushed him painfully against the ground, pulled down his pants, and threatened to do terrible things, all because Noctis didn't want bullies who would hate him anyway to think he was weak.

"It's okay, Noct… It's a scary situation." Prompto noted, seemingly putting quite a bit of effort into holding still as Noctis cleaned away the blood on his face. "I mean, your dad's not gonna like make them disappear… They might get mad that you told, and do something worse… and if word gets out that you're having the literal king solve your problems for you, you might get a reputation you don't wanna have…"

Noctis grimaced, wondering if that was true, if perhaps his dad couldn't solve this as easily as it seemed, if he would get a reputation for never solving things himself, for relying on his dad to do everything for him, only to not even solve the problem anyway. He'd put quite a bit of effort into making sure he was independent, not involving his dad in every worry and issue he ever had.

"But I don't know what else to do, Noct…" Prompto's voice grew lower and he turned his face to look away. Tears shined in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Prompto… I'll sort it out… somehow…" Noctis frowned. This shouldn't have ever been Prompto's problem. The younger boy's only crime here was befriending Noctis. He didn't deserve this nightmare. "Don't get upset. Prom. Please don't cry… I'm not gonna let them hurt you again. I promise."

"You can't make that promise. Your dad might not be able to help, and telling him will ruin your reputation…" Prompto whimpered.

"Screw my reputation." Noctis frowned, suddenly feeling rather angry with himself for considering not taking this opportunity, leaving his friend vulnerable to these brutes just so no one would think Noctis was weak. "No one will blame us for telling, and if they do, they do. It's not like we use my dad to get out of everything… Just this. If there's someone out there who wouldn't understand why we decided to go this route, I really don't value their opinion enough to care anyway, right?"

Prompto sniffed and nodded. "I guess… I mean, they're already not our friends, so it doesn't matter what they think."

"Exactly. I don't care what they think." Noctis smiled slightly. "We're gonna do whatever we can to keep those jerks away from us. That's the priority. Not how it looks to other people. I mean, really… People are gonna judge me no matter what I do, right? So we're going to do what's best for us."

"Yeah." Prompto let out a soft laugh.

"So… We'll deal with that tomorrow. I'll tell my dad, maybe Gladio… Those guys won't bother us again." Noctis promised.

"Good." Prompto spoke in a small voice, looking around the kitchen, then frowning back at Noctis. "Do I look like somebody beat me up? I mean… Do you think people are gonna ask me what happened?"

Noctis narrowed his eyes, trying to tell if the dark mark under Prompto's eye was a shadow or a bruise. His nose looked a little red too. Don must have really hit him hard…

Prompto grimaced, raising his fingertips up toward his face when Noctis hadn't ever offered an answer. "How bad does it look, Noct?" He whispered.

Quickly shaking his head, Noctis reached up toward Prompto's hand and took it in his own. "It's not bad… Can't even tell for sure if it's a bruise or a shadow… and your nose is kinda red, but the guy just punched you like twenty minutes ago… It might look normal again by the morning."

"You think?" Prompto stared, blinking his wide eyes.

Noctis forced a small smile and nodded. "How about you show me around your house. I can't believe I've never been invited over…"

"Oh… Sorry!" Prompto inhaled, looking genuinely nervous. "I… Maybe I should have… I just thought-"

Noctis laughed and shook his head. "Calm down, Prom. I was joking."

"It's kind of a lot of pressure making friends with a prince, you know." Prompto forced a breathless laugh as well as he pushed himself up off the edge of the table.

"Is it?" Noctis smirked. "I try to just be normal…"

"Well, it's easier for some people. It takes more than you trying to be normal. I gotta try to be normal too." Prompto laughed. "It's hard."

"No kidding." Noctis scoffed, punching lightly against Prompto's shoulder.

"Well, there's not that much to see at my house, but I can show you around…" Prompto spoke, leading the way. "That was the kitchen and dining room. Here's a tv." He gestured toward a room with a television and a few comfortable-looking chairs.

Noctis remained silent as he followed Prompto around the house, looking at the various rooms. The furniture barely even looked used. Everything was so clean, almost as though no one even lived there.

"Toilet and shower - if you're spending the night, feel free to use it." Prompto gestured toward a bathroom. "I can lend you some pajamas, but they're not like really nice… Just-"

"Prompto…" Noctis interrupted, shaking his head again. "I'm sure they're fine. I'm not gonna demand pajamas made of gold."

"Yeah…" Prompto let out a small laugh. "I know… I just don't want you to have an expectation and end up disappointed…"

Noctis frowned, reaching out toward Prompto's arm and grabbing it lightly in his hand until the younger boy turned around with raised eyebrows. "You can't disappoint me, Prompto. I don't think that'd be possible. I know you're not royalty. I know the whole world isn't going to cater to me everywhere I go… Prom, there's a reason I go to a regular high school, have a part time job… spend time at the arcade and going to shops like a regular person... I want to be treated normal. If anything, hanging out with you, doing normal stuff is such a relief… Don't ever apologize for just being a regular person around me. It's part of the fun of having a friend…"

"A friend?" Prompto hesitated, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah." Noctis laughed. "A normal fucking friend. I know you're not like the definition of normal by any means, but you do some normal stuff, and I like it. After being treated like I'm so special and important when I don't feel like I've earned it... People acting like I have to be careful all the time, train, study, get ready to be one of the most important people in Lucis when I'm just a teenage kid who feels way in over my head, hanging out, doing normal stuff is what I need. Getting to go to play video games with you, feeding bread to ducks at the park, buying a pizza and climbing up on the dumpster and the fire escape, eating it on the roof like we're just regular kids, sneaking around, doing whatever stuff we want with no pressure... It's so nice... You don't expect anything out of me but friendship. I really like that."

"So we're like… really friends?" Prompto smiled.

"Yeah!" Noctis stared. "Are you kidding? What do you think we've been doing for like five months?"

"I mean, I know we hang out, and we've been doing a lot together recently, and I really want to be friends, but like… we're friends then? For real? Like not just a temporary thing where you're bored and talk to whoever's around?" Prompto's eyes shined, like he was genuinely hopeful, like he didn't realize until now that Noctis legitimately considered him a friend.

"Of course." Noctis answered. "I don't hang around people this much if I don't like them, Prompto. I think that's part of Clinton's problem. He wanted to be friends just because I'm a prince, but he was a dick all the time. He kept trying to force himself into my life, but it was one-sided, and he didn't even really like me. Just my status as royalty. I had to be kind of harsh in ditching him eventually because he just sucked."

"Really? When was that?" Prompto frowned.

"When we were like twelve." Noctis shrugged. "I can tell when someone's using me… and he definitely was. Just wanted to be seen around me to boost his own social status. He's not like you. You're actually nice, funny, caring. You're not selfish and vain…"

"I'm kinda vain." Prompto laughed. "I take a lot of selfies."

Noctis smirked and shook his head. "Yeah. I know. I'm in half of them."

"You wanna see more of my pictures?" Prompto asked, his eye brows raised. "I can show you my room. Get you something to wear to bed if you still wanna stay over."

"Okay." Noctis agreed, following Prompto down a short hallway and into a small bed room.

"There's not much, like I said, but I've got a bed. If you don't mind maybe getting kicked off the side of it, we can share… I'll even take the side away from the wall so I'll be the one kicked over the edge." Prompto offered.

Noctis laughed softly. "I'll sleep through anything. I'll take the edge."

"You sure?" Prompto frowned.

"Yep." Noctis nodded. "These the ones you took?" He asked, walking over to a board on the wall completely covered with various photos.

"Yeah." Prompto grinned as he walked over and stood next to his friend. "For a long time, this was like basically all I did. I mean, I still do a it a lot, but before we were friends, I was kind of a loner and just talked to various animals I met around town. Took pictures of them... I'd just take off after school or on the weekends, walking around town, taking pictures... Like seriously not talking to another human being for days at a time... I was kinda weird."

Noctis laughed softly. "You're still weird." He joked.

Prompto laughed too. "Some things never change, right?"

Noctis took his time looking over the wall of images. Many of them were of animals, sunsets, flowers… He noticed some of the same animals were photographed more than once, seemingly on different days, with sunsets behind them, or with the photo angled from down below with buildings rising up in the background. There were a few selfies - only recent ones… A few pictures of Noctis - some of them he hadn't even known Prompto took. Like him staring off at the horizon or bent down petting a stray dog. There was one of him playing video games at the arcade, smiling a huge grin he hadn't ever seen on himself before - a genuine smile different than the ones he'd force for pictures or social interactions. It was like Prompto could see a part of Noctis that the prince couldn't even see himself.

"So this is how the world looks through your eyes…" Noctis noted.

"I guess…" Prompto exhaled softly. "I'm no expert or anything."

"Could'a fooled me. Prompto, these are really good." Noctis turned toward him, seeing a glint of pride in Prompto's eyes, a yearning for approval and a sparkle at genuinely receiving it. "I mean it. It's more than just raising up a camera and snapping a picture. You've got the angles, the lighting… I don't think I'd be able to take the same ones. Not like this."

Prompto looked over toward his own work and exhaled a soft breath, nodding slowly as though realizing his friend was right, that his photos were actually above average - more than a hobby - something he was actually good at.

Noctis looked back at the photos, staring at each one for a few seconds longer. He sort of felt they were a huge, open window through which he could see parts of his friend's character Prompto didn't readily share on his own. Among the snapshots were photos of people dancing - people Noctis was pretty sure Prompto didn't know - a couple holding hands walking down the street with the street lamps making their bodies into silhouettes.

There were quite a few shots of Noctis, even a couple of Ignis and one of Gladio, who Noctis was pretty sure Prompto had met like once in his life… But no photos of his parents. No older selfies. Just recent ones, often with Noctis right beside him. Prompto always wore a huge grin, which looked slightly different than the genuine smile Noctis managed to get out of him when Prompto wasn't posing for a picture.

Their friendship was fairly new, but Noctis could tell Prompto had a wall up. He tried to be assertive, talkative, funny, to appear carefree and cool… and he was those things, but he was sensitive too - sometimes so quiet considering how talkative he usually was. He had a lot on his mind, a lot of attention to detail. He saw the best in people and things, but there was something dark and uncertain in his eyes, like he saw the world as something beautiful, but still wasn't sure if he included himself in that world of beauty. Like he wasn't entirely sure who he was, if he was worthy of acceptance, friendship, love and care.

"Prompto…" Noctis turned toward his friend with a small smile, reaching an arm out and putting it around the younger boy's shoulders.

"Yeah?" Prompto laughed softly, leaning his head against Noctis's shoulder and staring ahead at his wall of photos.

"I'm glad we're friends." Noctis blurted before he could tell himself to not get sappy. "I think you're a genuinely good person… And I'm sorry I got you mixed up with those guys… but I'm glad we're friends."

Prompto frowned and stared quietly ahead, finally speaking after a long few seconds of silence. "I'm glad too, Noct… Thanks for getting them to stop… I know you didn't want to resort to that. I know it was important to you not to run away, or threaten to tell someone… I know you wanted to solve it on your own…"

"I did solve it on my own though. Telling my dad is a solution. What good is it being a prince if I can't use shit like that to get out of problems sometimes?" Noctis shrugged, leading Prompto over to his bed and sitting down. "If being a prince draws in bullies, I should be able to use being a prince to get them to go away too."

Prompto laid his head on Noctis's shoulder again, leaning against the other boy's side and closing his eyes. "I was pretty freaked out back there, huh? How embarrassing…"

"Embarrassing for them, maybe." Noctis frowned, leaning forward slightly to see his friend's face better.

Prompto shook his head and stuck his lower lip out in a pout, but kept his eyes closed. "He had my pants down to my knees, Noct." He whispered. "And when he left, I… I was still so scared… I don't think I even moved... He finally got off of me and I just laid there like I was dead... Thanks for pulling 'em up for me, 'cuz I was like… frozen…" He shook his head again and exhaled. "Sorry you had to see that…"

"Prompto, I don't care about that." Noctis frowned. "I've seen it all before anyway. Remember at the pool when your swimming shorts came off? You climbed up on the fence and dove in and you shot into the water so fast they slid right down your legs and floated away..."

"I was underwater though." Prompto laughed with a shaky breath. "And not face-down on the ground crying."

Noctis hugged his arm tighter around Prompto's shoulders. "It's fine, Prompto. I'm just glad he didn't hurt you any worse than he did."

"Me too." Prompto breathed, snuggling closer to Noctis's shoulder.

"It won't happen again." Noctis frowned, staring back at the wall of photos. Noctis typically had so many people watching his back, looking after everything he did, being protective, supportive… He really hadn't ever had the need to show that level of care back to someone else. But Prompto seemed to be bringing it out in him - a desire to protect, to keep safe. He never wanted anyone or anything to ever hurt Prompto again.

"Thanks for looking at my photos." Prompto whispered, his breaths evening out. He seemed to be close to falling asleep. Probably the whole incident with the bullies had completely drained his energy.

"It was my pleasure. You're really good." Noctis noted. "One of these days we'll have to take your camera out somewhere and let me have a go with it. Take some candid shots of you for a change."

Prompto let out a soft laugh, but didn't say anything.

"I mean it. I want to take some when you're not posing… Like you do for me. Catch a real, genuine Prompto smile." Noctis suggested.

"I smile in all my selfies." Prompto spoke in a low voice, yawning and snuggling closer to Noctis's side.

"You smile different when you're not posing." Noctis noted.

"Really?" Prompto whispered.

Noctis nodded. "I'll take some when you're not paying attention, when you make a good joke and you're proud of yourself, when a cute cat walks by… when your favorite ice cream flavor is on sale…"

Prompto laughed a small chuckle. "That would make me smile for real." He noted.

"I know." Noctis noted, closing his own eyes and leaning his cheek against Prompto's hair. "I may not be a pro like you are, but I think I can get a good picture of a real smile from you… and you're gonna love it."

"Can't wait to see it, Noct." Prompto exhaled.

xxxxxx

THE END

xxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned. A short mini-story is on the way - it's like 3 or 4 chapters, followed by my big, dramatic, long, painful, 16-chapter 50,000 word masterpiece. :D My long one is nearing the end of the editing process, so it'll be soon, and you'll love it.


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